4th Sunday of Easter: Jesus as Good Shepherd—Easter and the Transformation of Politics

This week saw the whole country come alive with the opening of the biggest circus in town. No, I am not talking about a company of performers that include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, and musicians, although in many ways it looks like it. In the Philippines, election is the biggest circus in town.

This coming May 14, 2018, voters will be going to elect their leaders at the Barangay level (village or barrio). Barangays are the smallest local government unit in the Philippines. Just imagine there are  42,028 barangays  throughout the country and in each barangay voters will elect a Punong Barangay, more commonly known as barangay captains, and seven members of the Sangguniang Barangay, or barangay council, plus  a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairperson (youth council chairperson) and seven SK kagawads (councilors). Most of the candidates for these positions have already filed their candidacies by now. They will start campaigning in May 4 till May 12.

Even though the official campaign has not begun, this is looking to be the biggest extravaganza in the country as each candidate will try to woo the votes of more than 55 million by every means including singing, dancing, pantomime, parody, vaudeville and mime. You name it and you will find it in the candidates’ arsenal of tactics of getting the votes.

And what will be the favorite slogan of candidates? Your guess is as good as mine. The buzzword will be service. Each candidate will promise to serve up to the last breath of their lives. No this is not about money, power, politics, influence or status, it’s all in the name of service. Can’t help but wonder, if it is really for service and not for the money, power and status, would you think there would be thousands filing their candidacies?

This fourth Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday. The gospel for this Sunday is always taken from the 10th chapter of John where Jesus speaks of himself as the “good shepherd” who lays down his life for the sheep. Today is also called Vocation Sunday. On this day we are especially asked to pray that God may bestow the Church with servant leaders needed to do its work of spreading the Gospel.

Good shepherd is an Easter image. Why? As a good shepherd, Jesus did more for His sheep than any other shepherds—He  died for them. Jesus as good shepherd sought the last, least and the lost even to the extent of leaving behind the 99 (Matthew 18:12–14). The two images of Jesus as the good shepherd, and Jesus as the crucified, proclaim essentially the same thing: he gave up His life for us. He died so that we his flock may have life, life to the full. Thus, Jesus as good shepherd is an image of the risen Christ.

I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep (John 10: 14 – 15).

Another reason why good shepherd is an Easter image is because it reflects the victory of Easter–Jesus conquering of death and evil. Despite the prevalence in our world today of the hunger for power, wealth and position, Jesus promise that his vision of service and inclusiveness especially for the least in society will prevail in the end. At the end of time, all will be one under Jesus as good shepherd.

Jesus’ servant and inclusive mission is continued by the church so as those who do not yet belong to the fold may be included in Jesus’ flock. But the only way for the church to follow the example of Jesus as good shepherd is through service, even to the extent of, following their master, laying down of one’s life for fellow sheep.

To be in the sheepfold of Jesus is to participate in the ‘shepherdness’ of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are called to shepherd one another, to search for the lost and the lonely, to care for the most abandoned, to protect the vulnerable and to defend the poor and the oppressed.

Through the Holy Spirit’s power bestowed upon the church in continuing the mission of Jesus the good shepherd, the door of salvation is opened wide to welcome everyone. Salvation is for all who hear and faithfully follow the voice of the Good Shepherd. Jesus promises in return to care for and protect His flock.

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd (John 10: 16).

Jesus’ servant leadership as good shepherd runs in sharp contrast to many of the values, standards and manners of our leaders in the world today. Many of our leaders political, civic and yes in the church sadly is akin to the “hired hand (John 10:12)” that Jesus vehemently criticized.

A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep (John 10: 12 – 13).

The image of the good shepherd is a call for us to proclaim Jesus’ values and attitudes of service and inclusiveness amidst the world’s vying for power, domination and position. As Easter people we are called to exercise our prophetic stance in the political arena by proclaiming Jesus, the good shepherd, in word and in deed. As Easter people we are called to be the “light of the world” and “salt of the earth” by transforming the world in the light of the gospel.

We also celebrate today Vocation Sunday, a day to reflect, discover and recognize God’s calling in each one of us. Pope Francis, in Evangelii Gaudium, calls out especially the religious and clergy  to go out of the comforts of their convents and stay close to the marginalized and become “shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.” The call to be a shepherd, however, is not just a call for the ordained and religious. It is a call for all the flock—we, the church, lay and ordained—are called to shepherd one another and have the smell of each other’s ‘sheepness’.

Let me end with a prayer to Jesus our good shepherd,

O Jesus, our good shepherd,
we long to hear your voice
Let us know your will
Hold us in your arms
Help us to lay our lives
down for each other
So that someday
we may become one flock
with you as our shepherd.